For the sake of a simpler assembly and because of their reduced space requirements, exhaust gas cooler modules have been developed in increasing numbers in recent years, wherein an exhaust gas recirculation valve is arranged in a valve housing upstream or downstream of an exhaust gas cooler, the valve housing and the exhaust gas cooler forming a structural unit, by which they are jointly connected directly to the outlet portion of the engine block or of the exhaust gas manifold of the internal combustion engine in order to reduce the number of the conduits needed in the engine compartment.
EP 1 643 097 A1 describes an exhaust gas cooler module wherein a heat exchanger housing is fastened to a flange plate through which the coolant ducts of the housing are connected with the coolant circuit of the internal combustion engine. A valve housing is fastened to the heat exchanger housing via a flange and extends into an exhaust gas inlet region of the heat exchanger that is arranged upstream of the actual cooling path but is nevertheless already formed with cooling ducts that surround the valve housing. This inlet region correspondingly serves to cool the valve body. There is a drawback, however, in that no thermal separation from the actuator is provided, while the housing thereof is still subjected to a high thermal load, especially due to heat radiation from the engine block. Since, however, very high temperatures of about 700° C. prevail at this site, there is a problem, especially when electric controllers are used, of excessive thermal load on the actuator, which may cause both inaccuracies in position control and a failure of the actuator and thus of the valve.
Another cooler module is described in WO 2009/047278 A1 which also comprises an exhaust gas cooler as well as a bypass valve and an exhaust gas recirculation valve, which are connected with the housing of the exhaust gas cooler through a distributor housing. For the cooling of the exhaust gas recirculation valve, the distributor housing comprises coolant ducts. The actuator is arranged on a side of the module remote from the engine block so that a shielding is provided by the distributor housing. This embodiment, however, comes with an increased space requirement in the direction remote from the engine block. Modern internal combustion engines, however, often offer no additional space in that area.